Of Queens & Princesses
by randomind22
Summary: When you heart is true, anything is possible.
1. Sunset

_Once upon a time, long, long ago a king and queen ruled over a distant land. The queen was diabolic and despicable and all the people of that realm hated her. _

_Once upon a time, in a magical and distant kingdom, lived a beautiful princess that was kind and lovely and all the people of the realm adored her. The only sadness in the princess's life was that she wished to be with her true love and couldn´t. _

_One summer day, the princess was horse riding when a little girl screamed for help for her horse had run and she could not control it. The princess saved the little girl, who was eternally grateful. It happens that the little girl actually was the heir of the throne of that land and told her father of the bravery of the princess when rescuing her. _

_The king, to express his gratitude, asked for the hand of the maiden and she refused. Her mother, not pleased, made her agree to the marriage. You see, the princess was in love with a stable boy, and wished to marry him instead of the king. They planned to run away, but in the night of the scape, her mother caught them and crushed his heart to ashes. Desperate with grief, the sorrowful princess married the king the next day. _

_Once upon a time, the beautiful princess became the Evil Queen_.

* * *

><p>Long ago, the white color of the walls of the castle gave a feeling of more opulence and finesse every girl in the kingdom could ever be able of dreaming of. Within years of isolation, that feeling gave place to one of despair and a thirst of freedom that could not be shaken off, not with the most precious jewels neither with luxurious balls given in her honour. She had an army of more than ten thousand men at her service, ready to obey at her whim. She had everything someone could ever hope for. Everything. Except the most important… Freedom! She wanted freedom to be herself, something that the position of queen could never allow her to have. She wanted to have something different to do, something exciting, something extraordinary. Everyday it was getting worse, the dull moments, the days started merging together, completely fluid, making it impossible to tell the difference.<p>

The place she found herself now was a result of big mistakes. Supposedly cursing an entire kingdom just so she could finally have her happy ending wasn´t well seen by her subjects. Sure, magic always has a price, but she never thought that it would be so high. Or that she would care about it so much.

She bangs on the door for hours, begging for their forgiveness, for their mercy, until her voice is hoarse and broken. But they don´t believe her. And she does not blame them. After all, why believe in a former Evil Queen claiming innocence in the murder of their precious little princess? Specially when she was the only witness and known enemy of the parents?

They did the right thing, the not-so-charming Charmings. They arranged a trial but it was clear, since the first witness, that no matter what she said, no one would care to believe her. All circumstances were against her, everyone against her. Except a little boy called Henry, but with being just a kid, was not allowed to testify.

The minutes tick by. The darkness surrounds her.

And Regina, starving and shaking against the cold wooden floor, wonders how Henry is holding up now.

They come the next hour for her. They do not bother with a blindfold. Poetic justice aside, the execution takes place at sunset, and Regina wonders if this is beautiful, or just sad.

- "Do you have a last wish?" The executioner asks in a monotonous voice.

- "No." She stopped believing in wishes since Daniel´s heart was crushed.

They have a rope around her neck in a matter of seconds. The growing crowd cheers on, and she can feel their looks of pure hatred towards her. They are finally getting rid of the reason for so much suffering.

- "Any last words?" He continues.

- "No." She resignedly answers.

- "I…I loved her…" Her voice was dragged from her by willpower more than anything else and each syllable cost her in agony.

- "I loved her!" She said with more confidence, regaining the habitual tone that people used to associate. "But I couldn´t save her. And for that, I am sorry. If there was something I could do to save her, or even bring her back, I would. I accept your sentence, your grief, your hatred towards me, but believe me, I was trying to save her."

Regina felt the magic rise inside her and rather than trying to reign it in, she just let go of everything. Every fear, every hurt, every sadness, every grief. She, for a lack of a better word, became numb. There was only light.

"Love does not conquer. It is not a kind of weapon you can wield."

"Happy endings do not exist." - She continued - "There are only moments, fleeting as may be, when life does not seem so bad anymore. When you have a family, or a semblance of a family, friends, someone to hold on to. Someone to hold you too close. Someone to hurt you too deep. Someone to crowd you with love, someone whose feelings you spare. Someone to bring you support, and make you aware that you are alive."

She remembers then, and always will. And from that memory, is exactly where she finds solace. Be brave, she tells herself, cling to everything good you possess. And maybe, someday, she will convince time to slow up, giving enough time in her life to grow up and be in peace with herself.

And then, and only then, her mind drifts away.

"I am going mad, but please, grant my wish, for I ask you again:

Time, be my friend.

Let me start again…"

A single tear falls.

And then, it starts. Lightly. Quite literally, actually.

The water drop flurries from the air into the ground and from its place, light starts to shine, swirling and growing, releasing its power. The teardrop spirals like a thousand light fractals all around and only one of them crystalizes spectacularly like an icy blast.

From it, the air starts to crack with static and tiny sparkles merges into Regina´s body, where every cell turned into pure light and there, in plain sight of everyone in town, she simply vanishes as the sun finally chooses that moment to set down.


	2. Sunrise

The sound of water made her spirit wake from her peaceful slumber. There were voices in the back of her mind, or perhaps near, though she could not tell the difference. Rubbing her temples in order to alleviate the growing headache, Regina began the slow process of waking and getting accustomed to the mid day sun. Bleary eyes opened, curiously taking in the surroundings, Regina saw herself on an unknown land, of blues and greens. When looking to the west, there was a lake of pure clear water surrounded by four statues of marble, each representing a season's nymph. In one of the trees by the brook, a blackbird sang an inspiring melody and she just comfortably stays under the shadow of the tree listening to the creature, waiting for the dizziness to pass. There was an apple tree nearby and other fructiferous trees along the way, and it was pure lack of strength that denied her the pleasure of finally satiate her hunger. Rings of smoke could be seen through the branches, and other than that, the place she found herself was not so different from the grounds of her old childhood castle.

As she dropped her hands from her head, she noticed they were not so scratched and bloodied from the hard rocks she used to sleep upon when in prison and the painful tingle in her back was gone. Apart from the dizziness, everything felt abnormally better, and even the headache seemed to be slowly backing away.

Finally gathering enough strength to rise, Regina found herself looking for a way to locate herself. Unfortunately, there was no point of reference she could use. It was obvious she was in a private garden, though with foliage so thick it could easily be mistaken by a forest. There was the bet there was someone in the direction te the smoke she saw earlier, but no guarantee if they would be friend or foe.

In these minutes, before even being able to decide the course of action, the sound of voices grew louder in the distance and slowly approaching. Afraid of someone discovering her in such manner, she ran and quickly hid underneath some bushes above the lake, in a rather precarious position, thankful for wearing such simple clothes and blending in with the dark of the foliage. Almost as soon as she did so, the voices grew louder:

- "Dear lady, you know your second chance lies in your hands. Quite literally, I might add." The old man chuckled.

- "Please, don't mock me, Sir. " The beautiful woman at his side still looked unimpressed, so he adds:

- "Milady, what I mean to say is that it is your choice. Yes, there are two paths you can go by but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on."

- "I understand that. But there is nothing left for me to go back to." Looking closely, Regina perceived that the woman seemed to shine white light from within. Truthfully, she seemed like a goddess, ginger hair woven with delicate small flores, flawless skin and silky voice.

- "Please..."

- "We must find another way. I am not risking the peace of this land just for my own personal happiness. I made a deal once, I am not doing the same mistake twice." She firmly said and handed him a small parcel. "Lock it in the vault and keep guard. You are the only one I trust in these hard times."

The man took his leave, leaving the gorgeous woman to her thoughts.

-"You can show yourself now."

Not expecting that turn of events, Regina lost her balance and straight up fell on the oh so clear water. So much for a bath now.

-"Oh, goodness, no need to such reaction. Come, dear, allow me to help you." The beautiful stranger promptly waved her hands and Regina saw herself dry and with decent, and more importantly, clean clothes.

-"I am sorry, milady, but I found myself in such a predicament. I did not know what to do. I did not mean to overhear..." Uncharacteristic Regina babbled.

-"Nonsense. I believe you, dear. But tell me, how did you manage to enter my private garden? No one is allowed here, there are guards on every door. Did Steve drink himself to sleep again? I swear that man is going to give me an ulcer these days..."

-"I do not know, milady." For that, Regina received an eyebrow lift in return. -"Truthfully, I woke up here just half an hour ago. I was so tired that I was resting and just rose up just until very recently."

-"I will ask you again, how did you get here? Don't evade the subject or I'll forget to be nice." instantly conjuring a fireball.

-"I speak the truth, I can assure you. I was about to lose my head, quite literally, I might add, when a white light appeared and next thing I know, I am here. I have no idea how that happened. I know this is a land outside my realm, though I've never read about it in my library."

The lady did not seem convinced.

-"I speak the truth." Their eyes locked in fear, and after a few seconds, comprehension.

-"Who are you? "

-"Queen Regina, ruler of the Enchanted forest." She answered in her most regal posture.

-" I find that hard to be true. The Evil Queen? Impossible! No heart tainted with darkness can survive in my lands."

-" Your lands? Where am I?"

-" Some call Eden; others, just paradise" The stranger answered with a somber face.

-" Is this a joke? Did I die?"

-" Of course this is a joke. You sounded worried for a moment. These are my castle grounds. They are said to be so beautiful that some call them the Eden. I am very proud of this place."

-"And who are you? I know for a fact you look too regal to be of low birth, not to mention very wealthy."

-"Queen Ana, of Arendelle."


End file.
